Bleeding Darkness
by animefan4eva5
Summary: Darkrai is an abomination, feared and hated by everyone, but under his stoic exterior lies a lost soul, a broken heart, and hurt feelings, waiting to be found and healed. Will someone break through the outside to the real Pokemon within before it's too late? Rated T for language, some dark scenes and self-harm. I really suck at summaries.
1. Ch 1: Beneath the Surface

**A/N: Well, I've had the general plot of this fic in mind for a while now, but just haven't been able to work up the creative juices to write it in detail. But I'm going to try now, and it's probably going to be really bad. I should REALLY write some happier, less-angsty fics. But don't worry; this won't be a oneshot (hopefully) so it will have a resolved, happy ending. But don't expect much in the updating department, since I am probably the most sporadic updater in this entire site. I'm still getting used to high school life! (I'm 13 and in Year 7 – first year of high school in Australia) But hopefully I'll update a bit more regularly since it is now the summer holidays here in Australia. But then I'll be going to Italy in 2 weeks' time, so the updating will slow down again... geez... **

**Oh well, that's the reluctant end of my rant, try to enjoy this dreadful story!**

**P.S. Darkrai will probably be very OOC (slightly self-pitying, less stoic and sarcastic, more easily affected by insults) because everyone hates him and he's had to endure this for a long, long time. **

Ch 1: Beneath the Surface

In the beginning, when Arceus Herself, Mother of Creation, Shaper of the Universe and all Beings Inside it, created the legendary deities, She assigned each of them a divine duty to represent their element, and keep the earth, as well as all the lesser creatures in it, peaceful and balanced. Most of these godly beings were benevolent, bringing forth miracles and life to the land and its inhabitants.

But the Omnipotent Goddess of All said to Her creations, "As perfect as this world may be, to bring balance to the universe, there must be evil and death as well as good and life." So, with sadness in Her heart, Arceus shaped two more beings: Giratina, Lady of the Dead, Bringer of Chaos, and Darkrai, Lord of Nightmares, Dweller of the Shadows.

When the benevolent deities felt the haze of evil settle around them, they screamed, and begged their Creator to banish the malevolent presences out of existence, but She shook Her head, smiling gently, and told Her children that this was what was meant to be.

Arceus created the Hall of Origin, Her eternal residing place, and the annual meeting ground for the legendaries. Then She gently ushered Her creations to set out to all four corners of the earth and watch over humans and common Pokémon and guard their elements, while She sat eternally in the Hall of Origin, silently observing them from above.

The benevolent legendaries were regarded with respect and awe by humans and common Pokémon, and the two malevolent beings were regarded with fear and hatred.

And it has remained so until now.

~ooOO00OOoo~

Darkrai's POV

The abomination. The one who tarnishes the legendary name. The evil, soulless, sadistic monster. That's all they see me as.

I am Darkrai, Lord of Nightmares, Deity of the Full Moon, Bringer of Horror. I am an outcast, a misfit, a blot upon the bright surface of the sun. I am hated by every Pokémon and human that has heard of me. I am the one that haunts every creature's worst nightmares. I strike fear even into those with hearts of iron. My reputation is even worse than Giratina's. Even she at least commands respect from people as the Queen of the Dead, but all the feelings directed to me are purely negative.

Arceus created Giratina and me so there would be balance between good and evil in this world. But, I doubt She even knows Herself that She created us with hearts, souls and feelings. Hearts can be broken, souls can be lost, and feelings can be torn apart. My heart has been broken by the hatred of my kin, my soul has been lost long ago from the torture and abuse, and my feelings have been torn apart from the insults daggering into me.

I cannot control my ability. My nightmarish power is so immense that it cannot even be reined in by its owner. So I inflict everyone around me, and even myself with visions of horror in the clutches of sleep. I have not had any sleep since the beginning of time, when I was created by the Original One along with Dialga and Palkia.

For this reason, I reside in New Moon Island, secluded and isolated from all except Full Moon Island, the residing place of my counterpart and polar opposite Cresselia, Lady of Dreams, Deity of the Full Moon. And even that is a considerable distance away. Better to be isolated than to endure the looks of fear and hatred cast my way. Better to be lonely than to have images of the agonised faces of my victims imprint themselves into my mind. In a way, my solitary existence on this island, empty and devoid of emotion, is a sort of salvation to me. To numb and detach myself from the rest of the painful world, to allow my troubles to drift away is the closest to happiness I can get.

And this way, I have lived my meaningless, agonising life until now.

~ooOO00OOoo~

Hovering out of the dark trees to the edge of my island, I shape my thin legs with dark energy, and stand silently on the earthen ground. The new moon, the source of my power, carves a circular hole in the myriad of stars sprinkled across the night sky.

Sighing, I close my one unnaturally sky blue eye and let my mind drift. Tomorrow would be the annual meeting of all the legendary Pokémon.

Every year, the legendaries met in the Hall of Origin, the residing place of Arceus, to discuss news, problems, and just about anything they had learned in that year. It served more as a social meeting than a business meeting, since everyone chatted about anything, or a party, since at least two Pokémon got drunk or high, and had to be carried off. The legendaries stayed there for one week.

For the diminutive, but highly excitable, very social Pokémon like Mew, Jirachi or Manaphy, this was the time of the year most looked forward to. But for me, this was the time of the year most dreaded.

For most of the year, I can live on my island, undisturbed, and without disturbing others. But the one-week stay in the Hall of Origin gives my fellow legendaries the perfect chance to unleash a barrage of insults, glares and attacks on me. I pretend to be unaffected by anything they throw at me. _"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me." _Whoever said that has obviously not met me before. Words are like razor blades, piercing straight through to the heart.

Last year's meeting had been the worst yet. I had tried to stay out of everyone's way, to be quiet and invisible, but it was no use. As soon as Mewtwo saw me, he'd yelled out, "Look what the Meowth dragged in today!", and the other, more violent legendaries had immediately crowded around me, throwing punches, jeering and glaring. At the end of the week I was nearly to breakdown point, though I didn't show it. I'm sure this year's couldn't be any worse, or I wouldn't be able to bear it.

Sighing, slightly disgusted by my self-pity, I pulled my mind back to the present, retracted my legs, and hovered slowly back to my cave to at least try and get _some _rest in preparation to the next week's torments. Though it probably couldn't be possible due to my accursed ability. _Oh why, oh why, Arceus, _I thought in another disgusting bout of self-pity, _did you have to curse me with an appearance and ability like this?_

**A/N: Well, I'm thoroughly surprised that this actually turned out how I wanted it to turn out (though Darkrai was a bit too wimpy and self-pitying, but you can't blame him, the poor thing). My chapters usually start out accordingly, but go completely off-track by the middle. Maybe the fact that I actually wrote a plan for it helped. In fact, I'm in such a good mood that I'll start writing the next straight away! :D **


	2. Ch 2: The Annual Meeting

**A/N: Well, as I promised, I'm starting the second chappie immediately after the first! Thanks a million to **_**Skipper1318**_**, who reviewed and **_**InfinityArk**_**, who reviewed, followed **_**and **_**faved within an hour of me uploading this story and gave me further motivation! You guys are amazing! I'm not sure if this one will turn out as good as the first one, but enjoy anyway!**

Ch 2: The Annual Meeting

Still Darkrai's POV

Much too soon for my liking, the morning came. From my cave, for I had stayed awake all night after having a nightmare, I watched the sun rise, its light staining the clouds and sky around it crimson, gold and violet. It really was a beautiful sight, but I didn't have the heart to enjoy it.

Heaving a sigh, I dragged myself very reluctantly off the mossy floor of my cave, and out of its mouth. The few patches of grass on the ground of the island were adorned with sparkling dew like miniscule diamonds illuminated by the sunrise, and the trees stood tall and regal towards the sun, completing the tranquil morning scene.

After contemplating the surroundings for a moment, I began speeding across the sparkling ocean in the direction of Mt Coronet. After a few minutes, I looked back. New Moon Island was just a faint dot in the distance now. To the left, there was a similar dot, Full Moon Island. No yellow, blue and magenta dot was streaking from there, which evidently meant that Cresselia had not set out yet.

That was good. It meant I didn't have to endure more insults and looks of disgust than necessary, earlier than necessary. Cresselia, my counterpart was depicted as a benevolent, wise and gentle Pokémon in the legends, and while this was mostly true, she had a tongue of poisoned, barbed wire when it came to me. Taking every chance to insult me, scorn me, and call me evil was to her immense pleasure. At least she didn't physically attack me like so many others. She wasn't that kind of Pokémon.

I turned back to the task ahead: getting to Spear Pillar. I could see the brown tip of a mountain on the horizon, undoubtedly Mt Coronet. I sped up, the wind rushing past me in a swirl, making the twin black ribbons of smoke on my shoulders and single white ribbon resembling hair on my head flow behind me in long streamers. It was exhilarating, flying this high in the crisp, undisturbed morning air, nothing but the wide, deep indigo expanse of ocean and just-beginning-to-turn-blue sky all around me. Closing my eyes, I lost myself in this sensation.

Before long, I was flying over the Sinnoh Region. Cities, forests and lakes sprawled out like an aerial-view map below me. Everything was just waking up, still having the sleepy, peaceful silence of the night. In a few hours' time, the region would be as busy as ever, humans populating the streets and route, Pokémon chattering noisily to each other on treetops, or locked in battle.

Reaching Mt Coronet, I landed lightly in front of the shining golden marble staircase that led up to the Hall of Origin. I walked forward to the barrier that blocked the staircase from all but the legendaries and a few chosen humans. I waited as the barrier bathed me in white light. When my identity as a legendary was verified, the light faded and the barrier rippled around me as I passed through and continued up the stairs.

The Hall of Origin was probably the most amazing piece of architecture in the world, obviously because the architect was the Original One Herself. It was made of marble were between white and gold, and gave off an iridescent, but not blinding glow of the same colour. Huge arches and columns adorned with intricate stone swirls and carvings of various legends spanned the ceiling and walls. Doorways lined across the walls led to other sections of the divine building. At the far end was a raised podium shining brighter than anything else, where Arceus stood in meetings. Tendrils of pure golden energy danced around the edges.

Arceus gave me a quiet nod as I entered, acknowledging my presence. Respectfully, I said my greetings to Her, bowing my head and leaving through one of the doorways to my designated quarters for this year's meeting.

Arceus was one of the only legendaries who were kind to me, but She didn't really count, since She was our Creator, our Mother, so was kind to every living creature in this earth. She knew my suffering, my pain, the way the others treated me, and my true nature, but did not interfere, as the personal problems of legendaries and the problems between them were not for Her to deal with. I would not have allowed myself to trouble Her with such a trivial matter (to Her, at least) anyway.

It looked like no other legendary had arrived yet, so I had a few hours of peace. My form glowed with white light, and when it subsided, I was in my gijinka form. All legendary Pokémon had gijinka forms, which were humanoid forms that still resembled their Pokémon forms in terms of colour, clothes, eyes and hair.

I chose to appear as a young boy of ten years old. My hair, while still pure white, was short and ever so slightly spiky, hanging in bangs around my face. My right eye was covered with one of those bangs, as in my Pokémon form, and my left eye was still the same bright blue. My skin was very pale, and I wore a t-shirt that was entirely black, except for zigzags of jagged red around the collar. My pants were black and knee-length, purposely torn and ripped in places. My sneakers were black and red. (**A/N: Emo Darkrai FTW!)**

I crossed the room to the king-sized bed draped in a silk cover and soft cotton blankets, as had been provided for all the legendaries' quarters, and lay down, sighing and enjoying the morning stillness. Unfortunately, this didn't last long as my ears picked up squeals and high-pitched laughter from the main hall, signifying the arrival of Mew and co. Groaning, I turned over so my back faced the door. Soon after, the legendaries came one by one, noisily enunciating their arrivals with heated arguments, hyperactive laughter, and stomping footsteps. Doors slammed open and shut around me as the legendaries found their quarters.

When all the legendaries had arrived, Arceus called in Her calm, yet powerful voice for us to gather in front of Her and commence the meeting.

Dragging my feet, I slowly shuffled into the hall. The other legendaries had already formed an orderly congregation in front of Arceus' podium, and I was the last to shuffle into the very back row, next to Giratina, who grimaced wryly at me.

"Greetings, my children." Arceus said in a voice that seemed to reverberate around the hall without being loud. "This year, we are gathered for another..."

I had zoned out a few words past the first sentence. Arceus gave the same introductory speech each year, and most of us have probably memorised it by heart now. The legendaries were required to report what had happened in their domain in the past year, which you would think would be slightly of interest, but actually is far from that.

Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos had gotten into a huge, island destroying fight again, Lugia had almost gotten herself killed trying to stop them, some evil human had devastated one of Celebi's many forests, Mew and Mewtwo were pissed off at each other, Latios had gotten himself killed defending a town, then come back to life again, a Lucario saved the Tree of Beginning, yada yada yada... it was the same every year...

After the meeting was dismissed, the legendaries dispersed into groups, chatting over punch, cocktails or champagne, sitting around tables that had magically appeared in the once-empty-of-furniture hall. Sighing again, I sat down at a smaller table with only one seat, letting my mind wander away from where my body was.

Suddenly, I was snapped back to the real world by incessant, high-pitched voices in my ears. Rolling my eyes, I turned around to face several hyperactive blurs flying in circles around me.

"We want to play hide-and-seek but we need one more person!" Jirachi squealed as she spun past me.

"We've asked everyone but they all said no!" Mew chipped in. "You're the only person we haven't asked yet!"

Heaving my third? fourth? sigh for the day (I really needed to stop sighing), I said, "Sorry, but no. I'm not in the mood for that today."

"AWWWWWWWW!" The tiny, fast-moving blurs all squealed. "But we REEEAAAALLY want to play hide-and-seek!"

"No, I told you, I'm really not in the mood for that today."

"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!" They yelled right in my ear.

Beginning to lose my patience, I raised my voice slightly, and said, "For the _third time_, no. I can't play with you today, so it'd be better for you to go ask someone else!"

Mewtwo turned his head to face us, suddenly interested, as a chance for him to attack me had appeared.

"Darkrai, don't be so mean to the kids! Why are you near them anyway? Innocent kids like that can't be tainted by your evil! How many more people are you planning to terrorise?" He sneered.

"No, that's –" Celebi began, but was interrupted by Rayquaza, who was also one of my regular attackers.

"For the love of Arceus, Darkrai, can't you just lay off torturing innocents for one second? I can't believe such an evil, soulless monster exists in our world!" She snarled.

I stood up slowly, my bangs covering my eyes, and quietly said, "I wasn't going to do anything to them. I was just declining their offer of including me in their game."

"Oh, now _he's _playing _innocent_!" Deoxys smirked, stepping up to join Mewtwo and Rayquaza.

The more aggressive legendaries were forming a circle around me, with no gaps for escape. Hatred shone in their eyes, and by the look of their stances, they were charging up attacks.

I tensed. This wasn't good...

**A/N: Oh no! I've left you with the dreaded cliffhanger! What's going to happen to Darkrai? Better stay tuned to find out! Oh Arceus, I'm starting to sound like that narrator guy at the end of Pokémon episodes. Please review and let me know if you think Darkrai's personality is bad, or not dark enough, and stuff like that. I'd really, really, like to know your opinion! I updated two chapters in one day just for you guys! This is a record!**


	3. Ch 3: Adding Injury to Insult

**A/N: Get ready for a really long author's note... **

**Ok, I know I said I'd start on this chapter straight away, and I **_**did **_**try to, but my mum saw and went on a rant, blah blah blah... **

**Here are her points:**

**1. Games, fanfiction and anime are for little kids**

**2. You'll never learn anything by writing fanfiction**

**3. You'll never learn anything by reading fanfiction **

**4. You should be writing for wider genres like history**

**And here are my rebuttals:**

**1. Excuse me, I've seen people in their **_**late twenties **_**still on fanfiction and I know personally a twenty-three year old man who is obsessed with **_**Lucky Star **_**for god's sake**

**2. Of course I'll learn things by writing fanfiction, you have to make up a storyline, do descriptions, depict the characters well, and everything you have to keep in mind when writing stuff that's not fanfiction...**

**3. Of course I'll learn things by reading fanfiction, many fanfictions contain very deep and meaningful messages that have taught me to raise my writing level and understanding of the world to where it is today!**

**4. What fucking THIRTEEN YEAR OLD writes about HISTORY, Jesus Christ... it's already abnormal for a kid my age to write stories in her leisure time!**

**Ok, end of my mini debate with my mum. Does anyone even read these author's notes? **

**Now, onto the replies for my lovely, wonderful reviewers! I must say, I've never gotten so many reviews in such a short amount of time. I usually get only like 3 reviews per 5 months! I've gotten 3 reviews in 2 days! I'm so happy!**

_**InfinityArk**_** – Thank you so much! But I'm afraid I can't make Darkrai even slightly evil in this story because that would interfere with the plot and the lovely, fluffy moments I've got planned for him and Cresselia... sorry that might disappoint some readers, but that's just how it is! Your view of Darkrai would probably be how I view him if it wasn't this story.**

_**Anime Fanfic Fan **_**– I like stories that show Darkrai isn't evil too! About the adding anger and resentment to the other legendaries, I'll try to work that in, but for the reason I said above for **_**InfinityArk**_**'s suggestion, I can't do this much either.**

**I finally got Darkrai's personality in this story down pat! He's kind, very loyal to his friends (as shown in PMD Explorers of the Sky), has a tendency to be sarcastic, and all he really wants right now is for someone to understand him, and to see past his dark appearance and ability. In short, he just wants a hug! Which I shall give him, in his worst nightmare... hehehe... **

**Now, on to my story! Hope you enjoy! By the way, I'm writing this late at night, so please notify me of any grammar or spelling mistakes.**

**P.S. In the title below, 'injury' and 'insult' are purposely switched around and you'll see why when you read.**

Ch 3: Adding Injury to Insult

Meanwhile, in an abandoned factory to the far south of Sinnoh...

A purple-haired woman donning an outfit resembling a skin-tight spacesuit with a yellow 'G' on the chest stood over a white-haired, bent-over scientist wearing a lab coat and small glasses, watching him type at various keys on the huge keyboard in front of the large supercomputer.

After remaining in their positions for a while, the purple-haired woman spoke. "How are the final configurations for the machine to receive the Rainbow Chain coming on?"

"Just perfectly, Commander Jupiter." The white-haired scientist said in a reedy, snide voice. "I just need to connect this," he clicked a button, "and it's complete!"

The 3D greenprint (**A/N: Just like a blueprint, but computerised and green, of course**) of a complicated machine revolving slowly around on the screen to show all sides glowed. A mechanical female voice spoke: "All preparations are complete. All ports are connected, all energy storages are in place, and all gas sedatives are ready to be released."

Jupiter smirked, her violet eyes glinting with a delighted, malicious light. "Excellent." She praised the scientist. "We shall relocate the machine to the middle of the Elta Forest (**A/N: Made up...**) where there will be no disturbances and release the energy pulse. This unnatural energy will surely draw all the legendary Pokémon to the machine to investigate, and then we will release the gas sedative while they are all gathered together in one place. Then we will suck their unique energy and powers to create the Rainbow Chain, which will bring back our boss Cyrus and create a new, perfect universe in the process! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She laughed raucously. The scientist began to laugh too, and the ear-jarring harmony of their laughter rang across Team Galactic's secret base.

~oOO00OOoo~

Darkrai's POV

My entire body tense and in a fighting stance, I looked around at the circle of legendaries around me, their faces twisted into leers of hate. The remaining legendaries were scattered around the outside, all looking fearfully at the gathered throng of their bloodthirsty fellows. There wouldn't be much help from there.

The entire hall was so silent you could have heard a pin drop, but the tension in the atmosphere was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. I transformed back into my Pokémon form and braced myself.

As one, the circle of legendaries rushed forward towards me, unearthly battle cries erupting from their throats. I tried my best to retaliate to their blows and moves, but it was one against about twenty. I didn't stand a chance.

I heard one of the red spikes of my collar crack, and my eye swell from a punch from Mewtwo's glowing fist. One of my thin legs snapped easily, and deep gashes ran all the way from my red collar to the bottom of my ragged 'cloak'. Searing pain shot through my body every time I moved to block or hit back, and my energy was draining fast.

After a while, I couldn't find the energy move anymore, and just lay on the ground, my one eye swollen shut. I let them go full out on me.

Just when I was about to slip into the relieving void of unconsciousness, I heard a voice, not loud, but nonetheless containing the most chilling cold fury and power I had ever known. It could even be heard easily above the beastly cries of the attacking legendaries. Said legendaries stopped dead and looked around.

Arceus stood, in all Her shining golden glory, in one of the doorways leading to the main hall. Her eyes, usually so calm and benevolent, were absolutely livid, containing the same cold fury as Her voice. She glared down at the legendaries gathered around me.

"What is the meaning of this?" Her voice was dangerously quiet, but contained more power than a shout could have.

My attackers all stepped away from my fallen form as hastily as they could, looking extremely guilty. All of them then turned to Mewtwo. I chuckled wryly in my mind at their feeble attempt to use Mewtwo as a scapegoat. It was ironic that I could still think like that, given my condition and situation.

"Wh-wha-what?" Mewtwo stammered, looking around at the Pokémon who had once been on his side. "_Traitors!_" he hissed, then turned tentatively to face the Goddess of Life. "D-Darkrai was trying to hurt Mew, Celebi and Jirachi! He was trying to taint them with his evil! I was just trying to teach him a lesson!"

"No he w-wasn't." A timid voice piped up from further up the hall. Every head turned in shock to face a trembling Celebi. She continued, just as timidly, but slowly growing stronger as she went, "W-we were asking everyone to play hide-and-seek with us because we didn't have enough people. Everyone said no, and D-Darkrai was the only one we hadn't asked. We asked him and he said no really politely and nicely, but we asked again and again and he got annoyed and told us to ask someone else. He wasn't even being mean or rude!"

"Thank you." Arceus said kindly to Celebi, knowing a Pokémon like her wouldn't lie, then turned back to the gaggle of my attackers, Her very body and eyes blazing with fury. She said in an extremely tight and controlled voice, signifying Her struggle not to yell, "As punishment for this unprovoked attack on an innocent victim, you shall all have your control over you respective domains taken for a month after this meeting is over. While in the meeting, your punishment will be that you are only allowed out of your quarters at meal times. This shall commence now." Arceus' eyes glowed golden for a split second, and the legendaries in question vanished instantly to probably reappear in their quarters.

She then turned to the other legendaries that had been standing on the sidelines watching. "I am very... _disappointed _in you." She said, Her voice no longer full of anger, but cold as ice. "Why did you not stop them, or at least come and fetch me?"

The legendaries all hung their heads guiltily. They probably had thought I wasn't worth doing anything for, as although they were probably against their fellows' actions, they were definitely not on my side either.

Arceus then walked gracefully to where my body lay in a pool of blood staining the marble floor. She bent down and asked gently, "Can you move?" Her elegant head swam in front of me as my vision split into double from the pain and blood loss.

With difficulty, I forced my swollen eye open just a little more, and began to attempt to push myself off the ground. White-hot pain shot up my arm, making me see stars, and I stifled a moan. Arceus tried to coax me to lie down again, but I shook my head and continued to try and get up.

When I was finally hovering unsteadily in the air, I flew down the golden marble staircase and out of Spear Pillar as fast as I could in my state, despite Arceus' protests.

~ooOO00OOoo~

Cresselia's POV

I watched, cringing as the most violent legendaries crowded around Darkrai and began beating him into oblivion. True, I did hate him, but I would never have attacked him. I'm not that kind of Pokémon, and he is my counterpart after all. I couldn't stop them, as I was in my gijinka form, and even if I was on Darkrai's side, we would still be outnumbered two on twenty.

Darkrai's feeble attempts at warding them off soon stopped, and he slumped to the ground, his eye closed. I couldn't tell whether he was conscious or not. I looked around. Where was Arceus? Should I go and get Her? But that would probably turn the attacking legendaries against me, and I definitely didn't want that.

Just then, said Goddess appeared at one of the doorways in all Her glorious fury, sweeping Her emerald eyes over the scene and demanding what was going on. I watched as all the attacking Pokémon turned on their ringleader, him trying feebly to make an excuse, which was rebutted by, surprisingly, the shy Celebi. Arceus stated their punishment and banished them to their quarters.

Then She turned to us, stating She was disappointed we had not thought to fetch help. I jumped guiltily and hung my head, knowing I had put my own safety above Darkrai's. Then I started. When had I cared about what happened to _Darkrai_? I _hated _him! Must be the shock after witnessing such a brutal attack, I deduced.

My astonishment at my own thoughts was interrupted as I heard Arceus attempting to stop Darkrai from moving. I raised my head to see Darkrai floating lopsidedly (if you could limp while floating, this would be it) towards the stairs leading from the Hall of Origin to Spear Pillar. I gaped. Was he absolutely crazy?! He was already so badly injured, if he went outside where he was vulnerable, he could be killed!

I started again, and berated myself again for worrying about him. What was wrong with me? No, I told myself, I wasn't worrying about him, I was just shocked at his recklessness and stating what would happen if he continued with his stupidity.

The entire main hall now descended into an awkward silence after this unexpected turn of events. My nerves were beginning to fray. If someone didn't say something in the next few seconds, I would lose my sanity and start screaming.

When no one did say anything, I stood up abruptly, knocking over my chair (remember, I was in my gijinka form, so I had legs), and said, "I'll go after him."

Several legendaries turned their heads to stare at me in shock, as I normally never wanted anything to do with the pitch-black Pokémon.

"B-because he's my counterpart, right?" I said hastily, smiling nervously. "I have a duty to him." I looked at Arceus, praying She would play along.

Arceus nodded bemusedly, sending me a questioning look. I sighed in relief, morphed into my Pokémon form, and flew from the Hall of Origin and Mt Coronet.

Mesprit's POV

The whole time Darkrai was being attacked by the legendaries, my emotional sensor was on overload. Emotions are like signal waves to me, and my sensor will overload if I get too much of them at the same time.

I usually didn't get much from Darkrai when it came to emotions, since he always hid them well so I could only sense them vaguely if I wasn't focusing especially on him. I never questioned why he did this, because since he was so mysterious about everything else, why wouldn't he be mysterious about his emotions too?

But now, I could sense so many emotions from him it felt like I was being crushed under six thousand meters of water. Pain, sadness, loneliness, anger, and... self-loathing?

I only snapped out of my daze when Cresselia stood up and said, "I'll go after him." Too worried about what I had sensed from the Pokémon I thought was an evil, soulless, sadistic monster, I didn't question why Cresselia of all Pokémon had offered to do this. After she had left the hall, I flew after her, calling back, "I'm going too!" and leaving Arceus and the remaining legendaries even more confused.

**A/N: I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter since it's so long. I don't think I ended it in the right spot though, but I've been typing this all day, so I need a break now. Aaaaand, the villainous team is revealed! Will they succeed in capturing the legendaries? Find out in the next chapter (or the chapter after that, I don't know how much I'll write). Signing off, animefan4eva5.**

**P.S. If you still don't get it about the injury insult thing, they're switched around because they taunted him, then attacked him, so basically they insulted him then injured him, hence 'adding injury to insult'.**


	4. Ch 4: Impending Doom

**A/N: I'm sooo sorry for the late update, guys! I had friends coming over for a sleepover so I kinda neglected in writing anything... Unfortunately, I think my creative juices are kinda also runnin' out so to get me motivated again, review! Oh, and that brings me to my responses for my wonderful reviewers, favouriters and followers! **

**Thanks a lot to **_**Starscream's-Demon-3**_** and **_**Ardtornismyname **_**for favouriting my story and **_**The Common Wind Deity **_**for following my story and her wonderful review full of constructive criticism! Here's my reply:**

_**The Common Wind Deity**_**: Thanks for the encouragement! It's also nice to get a review that points out the negative points in my story once in a while. Don't worry; I don't mind at all that you're pointing out improvements that can be made. I'm happy to take advice from people who are better than me! I'll be sure to keep your suggestions in mind. Heheh, I'll definitely tell my mum that, thanks! Fanfiction is a site where you can – just as it says – unleash your imagination for others to peruse. It's not just kids who have imagination! Some of the fanfictions I've read are much better than some of the published novels I've read. Anyway, thanks again!**

**And that's the end of my rambling. I think this chapter's the worst out of all that I've written, but try to enjoy it anyway. **

**P.S. In this chapter, Darkrai seems really emotional-y and weak and un-Darkrai-ish. Sorry about that, but it fits in with the story, since everyone is so mean to him and hates him. Aww... *hugs Darkie*.**

**P.P.S. Since **_**The Common Wind Deity **_**told me not to put A/N's in the middle of the chapter, I'll say it now, I totally suck at naming so when you get to the part of the Rainbow Chain Maker, laugh all you want 'cause that's all I could think of. And, that applies to the chapter title too.**

Ch 4: Impending Doom

Darkrai's POV

I flew numbly, blindly over the dark treetops, slowly losing altitude as the rush of adrenaline that had gotten me out of the Hall of Origin began to subside. I felt a strange burning in my eyes, and my vision blurred even more. Something wet slid from my eye down to my collar. It was a tear, I realised slowly through the fog that invaded my mind. Dammit. Why was I crying? I should have been used to this by now. But the way everyone else just turned their faces away when Mewtwo and his gang started attacking me... My chest began to ache and feel constricted, like there was a Snorlax sleeping on it.

Along with the adrenaline rush, the numbness tingling through my body also faded, and my nerves began sending messages of pain to my brain again. I nearly cried out, and noticed just in time that I was barely one centimetre away the top of a particularly tall tree, about to crash. I instinctively swerved and the leaves barely grazed the part of my collar that was cracked, but even that slight contact sent needles of pain darting through my body. I cried out. The shock of the agony had me dropping out of the air and I landed hard on the unforgiving ground with a loud thud.

The sudden sound alerted some nearby low-roosting Staravia. They took one look at me and began to caw loudly in fear, flying as far away from me as they could. Their cries in turn alerted the other forest Pokémon in the surrounding area, who came out to see what the commotion was about. When they saw me, they immediately tensed. The parents ushered their children to hide in safety, and the bravest stepped forward to surround me, bodies in rigid defensive stances.

I didn't attempt to move from my position of lying on the ground looking like a heaped pile of red and black rags. Everything in my vision was dyed crimson from the mists of pain clouding it. Even seeing my wounds, exhaustion and vulnerable position, the forest Pokémon still beheld me as a threat. The scene in the Hall of Origin repeated itself as the bravest Pokémon of the circle rushed forward at once and began to unleash a storm of attacks on me. Even though most of them were weak, the sheer number served to make up for the lack of strength.

I didn't try to resist. All the different pains of my injuries had merged into one big, constant pain. The throbbing of my cracked collar was indistinguishable from the ache of my broken leg. Everything was just a single mass of agony. The burning in my eyes worsened, and more tears slipped down, dark drops joining my blood in wetting the grass underneath me. The pain in my chest was solely distinguishable from that of my injuries, being so much more piercing, so much more immobilising. I squeezed my swollen eye shut, forcing more tears out, and welcomed the spinning darkness of the void of unconsciousness as it engulfed me.

~ooOO00OOoo~

Team Galactic's POV

Three large choppers with yellow 'G's on the sides flew in a V-formation across the sky. Their black colour camouflaged them well against the velvety darkness of their surroundings. The blades of their large propellers whipped through the air without making a single sound.

Inside the cockpit of the one in front, Jupiter sat in the pilot's seat, steering the aircraft while staring intently at the coordinate map on the small screen in front of her. It showed a blinking red dot that was slowly moving over a green background of treetops, towards a clearing marked with a blue triangle.

This was the location where they were to place Rainbow Chain Maker or RCM. The Elta Forest was perfect for their plan. It was close to Mt Coronet, where Spear Pillar led supposedly to the Hall of Origin, residing place of the legendaries. The proximity meant it wouldn't take the legendaries much time to get there. The one flaw in the plan was, though, that one unusual burst of concentrated energy would not be deemed important enough for all of the godly Pokémon to investigate, but they would have to make do with what they had.

When the blinking red dot was less than a centimetre away from the blue triangle on the map, Jupiter sent a signal to the other two helicopters, piloted by Mars and Saturn, to begin descending. They obliged, and the three choppers dropped silently and efficiently out of the sky to land smoothly on the grass of the marked location.

The clearing was relatively big, having space enough for three large helicopters to cover not even half of it. There would be plenty of room for the operation to take place, and no disturbances. A large garage-esque door slid open on the side of Jupiter's aircraft, and a wide metal ramp unfolded itself. With a roar of its engine, a large machine wheeled down the ramp and onto the grass. Jupiter sat in the driver's seat in front of a panel with various levers, switches and buttons while Charon, the white-haired scientist, sat beside her, monitoring the machine's functioning.

The RCM had two wheels on each side that looked like conveyor belts circulating around a long rod. It was made out of metal, and, predictably, had the Galactic logo of a yellow 'G' on its side. A rounded glass window allowed those inside to look out. The machine was equipped with a pipe, a hose with its mouth wider than its body, and energy cannons.

Jupiter smiled in satisfaction at seeing the awed looks on some of her lowly grunts' faces. That quickly turned into a scowl when Mars called out with her haughty, high voice, "Hey Jupiter! Don't sit there smiling like an idiot and fire the energy already!"

Jupiter huffed in supreme annoyance. "I know that already. I don't need _you_ to order me around."

She hit a few buttons, moved the joystick and pulled the lever. The four huge energy cannons on the sides of the RCM swivelled around to face upwards. They began to glow as they charged up. After a few seconds, all of them fired masses of energy, which met high up in the air and converged into one huge ball of concentrated energy. It stayed there, floating in the air for a split second before exploding spontaneously, smaller bullets of light raining back toward the ground. Most of the Team Galactic members managed to avoid being hit, with the exception of a few unlucky grunts.

Jupiter smirked. "Now, we just wait." She said, her face bearing a delighted and expectant expression.

**A/N: Not _as _bad as I expected, but still not good enough. And it's too short! I really can't say anything about taking a long time to update with a _short_ chapter... But don't worry, next time I'll give you guys a really long chapter, 'cause the next chapter is where all the action is going to happen! :D Look forward to it!**


	5. Author's Note

A/N: I'm really sorry guys, but it's the summer holidays in Australia and I'm going to Italy. I'll bring my laptop, but I'll probably not have enough time to write more chapters, but I'll try. So this fic is temporarily going on hiatus until I get back on the 12th of January. Again, I'm really sorry. Please don't kill me! DX


	6. Ch 5: Capture and Realisation

**A/N: OMG guys, I am so sorry. I have been so busy with school work since I started Year 8! I had 7 assignments all due around the same time, and I had even more than other people because I got an extra assignment from English Extension class! It sucks to be smart…**

**Anyway, enough whinging, and on to responses for my lovely reviewers, favouriters and followers!**

**Thank you to **_**Joex-the-Alicorn **_**for favouriting and following both me and this fic, **_**Phant0m212**_** for following, **_**Ulquihimefan1 **_**for following and favouriting, **_**Dark-Key0 **_**for following and favouriting, **_**dark-ags **_**for favouriting, **_**serenity-topaz **_**for favouriting, **_**LimeyMan209 **_**for following, **_**Mocha Suki **_**for following and favouriting, **_**Corrupted Icey **_**for following and favouriting, **_**Musical2day **_**for following and favouriting, **_**MissAmiClassified **_**for following, **_**lady of the wilds **_**for following, **_**Hailallpenguinz **_**for favouriting, **_**Prototron MJ Tornado **_**for following and reviewing, **_**Nightblaze **_**for reviewing and **_**The Common Wind Deity **_**for reviewing two times!**

_**The Common Wind Deity **_**– Response to review for Ch 4: I dunno, I just thought the last chapter was lacking in something. Too short, maybe? Thanks for the encouragement! I feel so sorry for poor Darkie! He's going to get a lot more emotional later on... **

**Response to review for Author's Note: Thanks, I did have fun, but getting sick wasn't very nice...**

_**Prototron MJ Tornado **_**– Thank you so much! I did get emotional when watching The Rise of Darkrai; it was so sad when he died! I also even cried a bit while dreaming up ideas for this story! **

_**Nightblaze **_**– Heh, sorry to keep you waiting; I'm the worst updater in the whole world. Exactly, I feel so angry at people for mindlessly judging Darkrai and automatically assuming that he is evil. If we had dreams all the time we would be overconfident! We need nightmares to teach us that we are not invincible! Thank you for the compliments! You'll find out in this chapter whether Team Galatic succeeds or not! My holiday in Italy was (refer to response to **_**The Common Wind Deity**_**'s review for the author's note).**

**Now, on to the chapter! I don't think it's going to be very good since I have writer's block...**

Ch 5: The Capture and the Realisation

Legendaries' POV

The legendaries remaining in the hall looked at each other, bewildered at this new turn of events. They didn't get much time to ponder over this, however, as not a few seconds later, alarm bells rang in their heads as they sensed the signature of an explosion of unnatural energy not far off to the south.

Heads snapped up. "What the hell was that?" said Raikou, jumping up.

"It came from the direction Darkrai, Cresselia and Mesprit were heading!" Shaymin exclaimed.

"I've never felt such a strong concentration of unnatural energy before..." Deoxys mused. "The vibes it's giving off are setting me on edge somehow..."

"Mew, Uxie, Azelf, Suicune, Latias and Virizion, please go and investigate the source of this energy." Arceus said, Her voice calm and even as always. "Try not to be seen by humans."

Said legendaries nodded and quickly ran/flew out of the Hall of Origin.

~ooOO00OOoo~

Six dark shapes travelled through the bushy terrain towards the direction of the forest ahead, keeping in a sort of scattered group, neither too far, nor too close to each other.

"_I can sense that the energy is fading in intensity." _Azelf spoke into the minds of her companions. _"But we're getting closer to it, and my instincts tell me we're not going to meet anything good when we reach it!"_

"_I think I can sense Cresselia and Mesprit's psychic signatures, but I can't feel Darkrai's at all!" _Latias said in the same manner.

"And that's a good thing too, I'll say." Virizion muttered under her breath. "I bet Darkrai wouldn't hesitate to be part of anything ill-intended.

"But he's injured..." Mew softly mused to herself, sobered from her usual hyperactiveness by the recent events, "And I don't know if it was just me, but I thought he looked really sad when he flew out of the hall..."

"Darkrai, sad? Tch, I don't think that demon has any emotion at all!" Virizion sneered.

Before Mew could formulate a reply, the trees of the forest, which had become so dense and dark they could barely navigate, suddenly thinned out into a much brighter, round clearing where the star-studded night sky was an irregular oblong above them.

In the middle of the clearing, were _humans. _They were scattered around next to four machines, three large and black, the fourth clunky-looking, and smaller. It was clear which machine the energy had been blasted from, as it the metal tubes at the sides still smoked slightly, and it was giving off the same vibes the energy had.

"_Humans!_" Suicune hissed. "I knew it! Every time trouble comes it's always the _humans_!" Without warning, a snarl ripped itself from her throat and she lunged forward, out of their hiding place in the trees.

"Suicune, no!" Mew cried. "You don't know if they're actually doing something bad!" The cat-like Pokémon streaked after her.

The aurora legendary was very mistrustful of humans, so every time something came up, she always blamed it on humans.

"Mew's got a point, but I can't help feeling that this time, Suicune's actually right." Azelf said, as she flew after them.

The remaining legendaries looked at one another, and nodded. They followed suit, charging into the clearing after their fellows.

Gasps of shock and awe sounded from the Galactic grunts as the six godlike Pokémon revealed themselves, and the commanders smirked in triumph.

"Hello, my dear friends." Jupiter said in a reedy, overly-sweet tone of voice. "Care to play a little game with us?"

Suicune snarled in rage and leapt at the RCM which the purple-haired woman was in.

Jupiter hastily manoeuvred the RCM sideways, just barely avoiding the attack. She then pressed various buttons in rapid succession, and triggered a switch.

Instantly, four metal chutes emerged out of the machine with a smooth, metallic sound, two on each side. A very pale pink gas was released thickly from them, filling the air in a matter of seconds.

Suicune, who had landed crouched in the grass after missing the RCM, suddenly felt her body drooping and tiring of its own accord. The musky sweetness of the gas sedative filled her nostrils, making her head feel very heavy and her thoughts blend in to each other. The other Pokémon standing further away from the gaggle of humans and machines began to follow suit, the floating Mew, Latias, Uxie and Azelf dropping out of the air and Virizion slumping slowly to the ground.

"What… what have you done?" Suicune said through gritted teeth, struggling to keep conscious.

"Allow me to explain," Jupiter said smugly from inside the RCM. "This is a gas sedative that contains specific chemicals that shut down the bodies of any Pokémon that smells it, not affecting humans".

"D-damn you…" Virizion muttered before she was out cold, the others following.

~ooOO00OOoo~

Cresselia's POV

I gave a small gasp as my body jumped in reaction to the strange and uncomfortable burst of energy I had just sensed. Not a minute later, I heard another gasp behind me.

I whipped around, and saw a flash of pink disappear behind dark foliage. Someone had been following me.

"Who's there?" I called out. "Show yourself!"

A small, pixie-like pink Pokémon revealed itself, parting the leaves. "Oh, it's just you, Mesprit." I sighed in relief. "What are you doing here?"

"I came because I felt something really weird from Darkrai when he was flying out of the hall. I think… I don't know. I thought he was an evil, soulless monster, but…" Mesprit seemed to ponder for a moment.

"But what?" I demanded.

"I thought I sensed… sadness. Yes, sadness and hurt and pain and betrayal and loneliness and anger and what felt like… self-loathing."

I was dumbfounded. "Are you sure you're right? I thought he was an evil, soulless monster too. And what would he be sad and hurt about anyway? And why would he hate himself?"

"I'm sure I'm right." Mesprit deadpanned. "I've never been wrong before, and that's not just boasting. I am the Being of Emotion after all. And if this is the case, he has every reason to feel that way, judging by the way everyone treats him."

"But he's a monster with no feelings until now, if what you sensed was true!" I exclaimed. "He deserves it for torturing innocent people in their sleep!"

"Have you ever looked at him closely?" Mesprit queried. "In annual meetings he just sits somewhere isolated from the others and never does anything to pick a fight, to be aggressive or hostile, or anything. He always speaks civilly to anyone who talks to him. Even when he fought back when the others were attacking him, it was only for self-defence."

"But that's just because he thinks he's too great to interact with anyone else…" I knew my argument was weakening. The always observant Mesprit's evidence made perfect sense.

"His gijinka form is always a child. Doesn't that suggest any sense of vulnerability? And you can't see it in his Pokémon form, but as a human, his skin is an unhealthy-looking shade of grey and he always looks so exhausted with shadows under his eyes."

I had nothing to say. The more Mesprit said, the more I began to notice these details about Darkrai, even as I was looking back on my memories of him. He _was_ an unnaturally pale grey shade and he _did _have shadows under his eyes.

"And apparently he's supposed to be abusing his power and giving out nightmares to innocent people just for his own sadistic pleasure. But you live near his island, have you ever seen him flying out of his island towards human cities frequently between each annual meeting?"

"No." I whispered. I didn't know what to think. If Darkrai was really not what we had all thought he was, then…

"Exactly. He must not enjoy giving out nightmares then. He must want to protect people from them, otherwise he'd be flying every night giving people nightmares."

I thought about this, then suddenly regained another argument. "Then, if he doesn't want to give people nightmares, why doesn't he just go near them without giving them nightmares?"

"I have a theory on that. If Darkrai goes near a sleeping person or Pokémon, they will get nightmares without him doing anything. This would suggest that the power to give nightmares is his _ability_. And that would mean that he isn't able to turn it off. That would mean he doesn't give nightmares _willingly_. Just as Kyogre cannot help but bring rain wherever she goes, and Groudon cannot help but bring sunny weather wherever he goes, Darkrai cannot help but bring nightmares wherever he goes. That explains the self-loathing I felt from him; he must hate himself for possessing this ability."

The first emotion I experienced after hearing this was mind-numbing shock. Then that slowly descended into absolute horror.

"If what you just said was true, then…" I whispered, too horrified to go on.

"Then we would have destroyed a completely innocent Pokémon, judged and condemned him for what he had seemed to be." Mesprit said gravely.

**A/N: Oh my god, I never actually meant for them to realise this until later! But it just kind of flowed into the chapter… oh well, you'll get to see everyone else realise it in the next chapter! (Hopefully…) Oh, and if you're wondering why Cresselia and Mesprit aren't mentioning the energy burst, it's not a plothole; they've just forgotten about it in the midst of discussing Darkrai. They'll touch on that next chapter.**


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